The 2022 RAA African Nations Cup kicks off tonight, with the tournament taking place at ServiceFM Stadium for the very first time. With Round 1 upon us, we take a quick look at how group shapes up heading into the tournament.
Group A: Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
Somalia has their sights set on a place in the next round of the tournament, after gaining confidence in their friendlies after some sharp displays including a 2-1 victory over South Sudan 2-1 as well as defeating Guinea 3-2. Burundi enters the tournament with a squad full of RAA NPLSA talent including current Adelaide City superstar and last year’s MVP Aladin Irabona. Burundi plays tonight in the opening match of the 2022 African Nations Cup against Somalia, as they search to compensate for last year’s tough 6-0 loss in the final against Sierra Leone. In other action to kick-off Round One will see one-time champions Ethiopia led by Ex-Adelaide United FC player Yared Abetew take on Zimbabwe.
Group B: Guinea, Rwanda, Malawi, Ivory Coast
Guinea enters the tournament as one of the top teams, with a strong squad full of great talent, including Mohamed Donzo. Guinea has the dream of lifting the trophy this year, with it being all or nothing. The team plays similarly to the attacking style of Atletico Madrid, which saw them reach the final rounds in 2019 as they loss to Sierra Leone 1-0. They will be matched up against strong competition this year as they face last year’s Quarter Finalists Rwanda, as well as Malawi and Ivory Coast who contribute to a strong brand of offensive football, which has seen the beat the likes of Kanya, Rwanda and Liberia.
Group C: South Sudan, Nigeria, Sudan, Cameroon
The first match of Group C will see a squad South Sudan led by current Adelaide City superstar forward Ayom Majok who will look to overcome Nigeria in what will be a tough battle. In other action, we will see Sudan kick-off their campaign as they face Cameroon. Coached by Tommmasi Tong, Sudan will have high ambition to go as far in the tournament, with the hopes that Adelaide Blue Eagles player Chante Mayol can show his quality throughout the tournament. Cameroon will be searching to make the final rounds of the tournament as they look surprise a few with their quality.
Group D: Sierra Leone, Liberia, DR Congo, South Africa
The draw for the 2022 tournament threw up some exciting matchups for Group D. And yet again for the 2nd year in the row, we are expecting a West African Derby when the defending champion Sierra Leone takes on Liberia. Sierra Leone are the defending champions and will be missing their captain Chris Blade, who lifted the cup in 2019 & 2021, however, this will not get in the way of the Sierra Stars from searching to lift the trophy again this season. Their neighbour Liberia who are currently the record holders with the most tournament with 6 trophies, will be fighting for glory once more as their famous chant that their supporters will be repeating “LIB for the win.” DR Congo and South Africa also enter what is a difficult group, with the hopes of making it through to the final rounds.
Women’s: Liberia, Burundi, South Sudan, Cameroon
The 2022 RAA African Nations will see four teams participate in the women’s competition, which will see Liberia, Burundi and South Sudan be joined by Cameroon. In what looks like another strong competition, with numerous amounts of talent on offer, the 2022 tournament could be one to remember.
AFCON Journey (About AFCON)
The African Cup of Nations is an annually Football event that represents the African community in South Australia. The atmosphere is all about gathering people and divers’ African community with other communities to join and to be part of celebrating ethics, pride and identity such as creating joy with music, sharing the food from all over the content and enjoy the beautiful game (Soccer).
In 2001, Egyptian backgrounder Claud Malak was the first to organise the competition. The AFCON Kicked off with a couple of nations participating such as Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Somalia, DR Congo, West Africa, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Initially, the AFCON has reached out to be popular beyond expectations. Since, 2013/2014 the tournament was taking over officially as certified by Football SA, sponsored by RAA.
The tournament has become a huge platform for players and coaches to showcase their talents. Supported by thousands of spectators that attend from all over the state & country. Pushing players to believe in their dreams and ambition to fulfil that positive energy as much as possible.
Crowned Nations
Liberia has won it the most as 6 times winners, Ahead of Sudan (Currently South Sudan) with 5 times, with their last coming in 2013. The defending champions Sierra Leone are consistently performing at a high level and compete for lifting the cup. Burundi nation that depends on their talented players to be good and entertaining. In addition to all of Botswana, South Africa, Ethiopia and Uganda with one-time winners.